Twilight Rewritten
by Luna.T.Lawliet
Summary: What if Bella never came to Forks? Luna Goodwin is a damaged, emotionally scarred young woman who escapes to Forks to save herself from her abusive father and step mother. This is the entire book, rewritten from Luna's POV. Believe me, it's better than it sounds.
1. Preface

_Hiya Guys,_

 _Did you miss me?_

 _I know it's been a while since I've done something on here - what can I say? Being a grown up and finishing my first ever manuscript takes up a lot of my time - but I've decided it's time to commit myself back to your guys for a while... even if it is to start this and finish off some of my others._

 _So, a while ago, someone reviewed one of my stories to say that they'd love to read Twilight from Luna's POV instead of Bella's..._

 _Can ya guess what I did yet?_

 _This is just the preface but if you like the idea, I'll post the first chapter 'First Sight' and we'll see how we go from there._

 _Lot of love to you all :)_

 _Beth_

* * *

In all honesty, I'd never given that much thought to how I'd die though I'd had plenty of reason to over the course of my existence but – even if I had – I would never have imagined it like this.

 ** _I stared across the long room into the dark eyes of the hunter who looked back pleasantly at me._**

Surely, it was a good way to die, in place of someone else that I loved more than anything.

Noble, even… I mean, that had to count for something, right?

Some small part of me knew that, even if I'd never gone to Forks, I'd still be facing death… just in a very different fashion and yet, I couldn't bring myself to regret my decision. When life gives you so much more than you ever expected, how can you grieve when the inevitable happens and it all comes crashing to an end?

 _ **The hunter smiled, his razor teeth gleaming in a friendly and reassurance way, as he sauntered forward to kill me.**_

 _ **I took one last deep breath and allowed my eyes to flutter closed.**_

Well, it was going to happen at some point, wasn't it?

* * *

 _So, what do you think? Are you interested?_

 _If you are, please let me know :)_

 _Until then..._


	2. Chapter One: First Sight

_**Hiya Guys,**_

 _ **Thanks so much for letting me know that you're interested... I'm glad! I was sort of curious as to how it would turn out too :)**_

 _ **I'd like to thank kinkymistress87 and TheoMidnight for reviewing :) as well as thank those of you who've favourited and are following this story.**_

 _ **So, without further a do, here you go.**_

* * *

 **Chapter One: First Sight**

* * *

It was my step mother who'd ended up losing the coin toss meaning that I had to spend an entire three hours with her in her Prius as she drove me up to the airport.

It was seventy-five degrees on my last day in Phoenix, the sky was bright blue without a cloud marring it, and I was practically buzzing with excitement at the prospect of leaving that place behind me.

In the Olympic Peninsula of Northwest Washing State, a tiny town named Forks exists under a near constant cover of clouds. According to the quick Google search I'd done before hand, it rains on this town a hell of a lot more than any other place in America.

"Luna," Stacey sneered from her place beside me, breaking the tense silence which consumed the car for the past couple of hours. "I'm so glad that ya decided to fuck off and live with your mom."

 _So am I._

I just nodded in response before turning my attention back to the window, watching as other cars zipped past in quick flashes of colour.

"I think ya dad's gonna miss ya though." She moved her hand from the gear stick for a moment to rest it on my knee, her fingers creeping through the hole in my jeans so she could dig her nails into my skin. "You'll come back to visit, right?"

 _Why don't you go fuck yourself?_

I swallowed the lump forming in my throat, shrugging, as her hand steadily crept higher up my leg.

I froze for a second, my heart pounding ten to the dozen in my chest.

 _Not again._

"What's wrong Sweetie?" she asked, a sadistic smirk on her face. "You're looking awful pale all of a sudden. Want me to take you home?"

I shook my head, my eyes clamped shut to stop my tears from falling, sighing in relief when I felt her pull away.

A few minutes later, we were at the airport.

"Well? What're ya waiting for? Get out! I've got a nail appointment at four!" Stacey snapped, narrowing her eyes at me.

I didn't need telling twice.

Within twenty minutes, she was gone and I was on the plane.

It's a four-hour flight from Phoenix to Seattle, shortly followed by another hour in a tiny plane, and then an hour drive back down to Forks.

To be honest, the flying didn't bother me.

The hour in a car with my mom however? Well, let's just say that it was bound to be a pretty strange experience, especially as I hadn't really seen her since she left twelve years ago.

I didn't blame her for leaving; I'd be lying if I said that I still wasn't slightly annoyed that she didn't take me with her.

Elizabeth had been cool about the whole deal. She seemed genuinely happy that I was coming to live with her. She'd even called and got me registered with the high school.

When I finally landed in Port Angeles, it was raining.

My mom was waiting for me with her Honda and even offered an awkward one armed hug as I stumbled my way out of the plane.

"It's good to see you Lu." She said, a small smile on her face. "You've changed so much since I last saw you."

 _You mean I've grown two feet and have boobs? Gee, thanks mother._

"You too."

She really had.

It was her who'd given me my dark mahogany hair – an attribute that I dyed a deep shade of crimson since being about thirteen – and my eyes; now, she had fine lines around her mouth and in the very corners of her eyes.

She looked… well… older.

After a few minutes of silence, I grabbed my duffle bag and slung it into the back seat before climbing in after it.

"I managed to find you a car." She announced when we strapped in. "It's nothing fancy but it'll get you to school and back in one piece."

"Cool."

That was the last word spoken between us until we reached her house.

During this time, I stared out of the window, wanting to see if it was anything like my internet searches.

It was better; it was beautiful.

Everything was green: the trees, their trunks, their branches hanging with a canopy over it and the ground that was completely covered in ferns. Hell, even the air filtered down greenly through the leaves.

Eventually, we made it to Elizabeth's place.

"There you go." She said, pointing over to the motorcycle taking up half of the driveway. "That's okay, isn't it?" she asked, rubbing the back of her neck. "I don't really know much about this kind of thing but Charlie said it's working."

"Funny car." I murmured, slightly amused, as I stepped out of the car and towards the black Colleda Seltwin.

"Oh, did I say car?" she shook her head with a shrug as she moved to grab my back from the back seat. "Sorry, don't you ride?"

"Used to." I answered, running my hand over the faded leather seat.

"Do you like it?"

 _I think I'm in love._

I nodded, throwing her a smile of my shoulder, before giving the bike one last pat and turning around to face her.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome." She beamed, handing me by bag. "C'mon, it'll show you to your room. It isn't much but it's home."

I followed her through the house and upstairs; it was a descent size really.

She'd given me the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard. The floor was wooden, the walls had been painted a deep royal purple – freshly painted too, I could still smell the chemicals hanging in the air – and the windows were covered with black laced curtains.

I loved it immediately.

"Bathroom's at the end of the hall next to my room." She told me, pointing in the general direction. "I've cleared a shelf for you."

"Cool."

I threw my things onto the floor beside the bed and perched on the edge, looking up at her as she hovered by the door.

"You… eh… don't talk much, do you?"

 _Used to._

I just shrugged in response.

"Well, I'll leave you to get settled and everything ready for school tomorrow."

"Okay."

Elizabeth left me alone to unpack the few things I owned – a few pairs of jeans, some shirts, two pairs of boots and my other leather jacket – which didn't take long so I remained upstairs, laying in the middle of my new bed.

I hated to admit it, even to myself, but part of me felt more uneasy there than I did with my father; at least there, I knew what to expect.

After half an hour of staring up at my ceiling, I decided to grab a shower then head to bed early.

Forks High School had a frightening three hundred and fifty-seven, now fifty-eight, students total; in my old school, there were that in my grade alone. Even worse, all of the people here had probably grown up together with it being a tiny town. Hell, their grandparents probably went to school together.

I'd be the new girl from the city.

To them, I was a curiosity, a freak.

I guess, maybe, if I looked like a generic girl from Phoenix, I'd be able to use it to my advantage. Unfortunately, physically, I'd never fit in that stereotype; in theory, I should be golden brown, sporty and tall – a volleyball player or a cheerleader maybe – all the things that go with living in the valley of the sun.

Instead, I was extremely pale which is why I dyed my hair red. Don't get me wrong, I was sort of slender in a squishy way but sport was definitely not my forte.

I had one of the worst night's sleeps ever. I was so accustomed to the constant noise of partying downstairs that the peaceful silence and occasional _whooshing_ of the rain on the window pane did nothing to relax me.

By the time that the sky began to lighten, I'd had around an hour of interrupted sleep.

Luckily for me, breakfast with Elizabeth was a pretty calm even.

She wished me luck at school through a mouthful of toast as she passed me the keys for my bike and I thanked her between sips of coffee.

She left for work about ten minutes before I needed to leave which suited me just fine.

By the time I'd finished my morning cup of caffeinated goodness, it was time for me to leave so I threw on my jacket and set about looking for a brain bucket.

Turns out, that was the one thing she forgot to get.

Sighing, I threw my hair up into a pony tail to keep it from my eyes then grabbed the keys that'd been left in the door, locking up after myself before getting onto my bike.

It purred like a kitten when I started her up, the sound enough to make me forget that the back of my jeans were soaked.

Finding the school wasn't too difficult, despite me not knowing the area. It was like most other things, just off of the highway. It wasn't too obvious that it was a school but luckily, there was a sigh on the front so I didn't drive straight past it.

I parked in front of the building titled 'front office' – not giving a crap that there was a no parking sign – and walked inside, grateful at the wave of warmth which hit me as I crossed the threshold.

The office itself was tiny – I was half expecting someone to poke their head around the corner and tell me that the doctor was waiting – but the lack of people meant that I could find where I needed to go.

"Hi," The auburn-haired woman behind the admissions desk called, waving her hand as she poked her head over the monitor of her computer. "Can I help you?"

"I'm new." I informed her, slightly amused at the way that her eyes widened before she began digging through various piles of paperwork on her desk.

"Ah yeah, of course, you must be Luna Goodwin." She muttered, her nose buried in papers. "Ah, ha!" she cried victoriously, holding a small folder in the air so I could see. "I've got everything you need right here. There's your schedule and a map of the school."

"Okay."

"and here's a slip that your teachers need to sign then bring back here at the end of the day. Can you do that?"

 _Well… I think I can manage that but thanks for asking…_

I nodded, offering her a small smile, before turning to leave.

By the time that I reached my bike, ready to move it over to the student parking lot, everyone else and their dog began to arrive.

Luckily for me, my motorcycle didn't really stand out too much amongst the sea of hand me down cars though a few did turn to stare at, what I presumed was, my lack of a helmet.

 _Only gonna die once._

I chose the first spot that I saw, right between a shiny new Volvo and Jeep, and sat there for a few minutes while I stared down at the welcome pack I'd been given; I dismissed it quickly seeing as the school wasn't too big and decided to just memorise my classes for the day.

When I was certain I knew my timetable, I followed the crowd of sleep addled zombies into the school.

Once I'd got around the cafeteria, building three was pretty easy to spot – which could be attributed to the fact that there was a huge '3' painted on the front of it – so I made my way inside for English Lit.

Much like the town, the population and the front office, the classroom was small and overstuffed with desks.

A couple of people stopped by the door to hang their raincoats on the long line of hooks but I decided to keep my jacket on, even though it was wet and cold.

I couldn't risk anyone seeing my scars.

Luckily, as I went to take my slip to the teacher, I noticed that almost everyone was as pale as I was so I didn't have to worry about sticking out like a sore thumb.

Mr. Mason – guess that was his name as it was on his desk – sent me to the empty desk in the far back corner without so much as a word muttered between us.

I didn't care; it suited me down to the ground.

As I sat down, and he started droning on, I scanned the reading list to find that I'd read all of them.

 _Class is gonna be a walk in the park… Think I've still got my old essays somewhere._

Since I sat there doodling on a piece of paper, it didn't seem like five minutes before the bell went off and I was approached by a gangly buy with slicked black hair and awful ache.

"You're Luna Goodwin, aren't you?"

"Yeah." I muttered, feeling extremely uncomfortable as everyone within a three-foot radius turned to stare at me.

"Where's your next class?"

"Building six."

"Well, I'm heading towards building four so I could show you the way." He offered, a huge smile on his face. "I'm Eric, by the way." He added, thrusting his hand out.

"Thanks." I ignored his invitation as he grabbed his jacket from the hooks.

During the lesson, the rain had picked up tenfold which made a pleasant change from the sweltering inferno I grew up in.

"So, this is a lot different than Phoenix, huh?" he asked.

"Very."

"It doesn't rain much there, does it?"

"Bi-annually."

"Wow, what must that be like?"

"Hot." I told him.

"You don't look very tan."

 _That'd be because I'm half albino… idiot._

I shrugged.

We made our way back around the cafeteria and towards the south buildings by the gym.

Not seeming to realise that I was more than capable of navigating my way to the building with a huge "6" painted on it, he walked me right up to the door.

"Well, good luck." He called as I put my hand on the handle. "Maybe we'll have some classes together."

I shrugged again and went inside.

The rest of the morning passed in the same fashion.

My trigonometry teacher, Mr. Varner, made me stand in the middle of the class and introduce myself… well, he tried.

I stood there for a few minutes silently, picking at my nails, until he pointed to my assigned seat.

What was the point of telling people who I am? They'd already have found out by now.

After a couple of classes, I began to recognise a few faces in each class.

There was always one person who took upon themselves to introduce themselves and then start quizzing me about my life and what I thought about Forks so far.

I just kept quiet.

One girl, who sat next to me in both my Spanish and Trig lessons, decided to walk with me to the cafeteria for lunch, babbling aimlessly the entire time. The funniest thing? She was tiny! I wasn't the smallest person in the world but she was an adorable travel size with her masses of dark curly hair piled on top of her head.

The minute we crossed the threshold, she dragged me over to sit at the end of a table with several other people; she did introduce me to them all, I just happened to forgot their names the minute after she told me them.

It was there, sitting in the lunch room with seven awkward strangers, that I first saw them.

They'd claimed the table in the corner of the cafeteria as far from anyone else as possible.

I didn't blame them; it looked like a good spot.

Excusing myself, I moved to grab something to eat – just a plain salad, nothing too exciting – and couldn't help but look at my ideal eating location.

There were five of them occupying the table.

It was sort of strange that they weren't speaking to each other, just sat there eating casually, but the best thing was that they weren't staring at me like I was some exotic animal at the zoo.

"They're the Cullens." The girl from Spanish told me as I took my seat again, settling down to eat my lunch. To be honest, I really didn't care who they were but I nodded along to what she was saying anyway. "That's Edward and Emmett Cullen." She continued, blissfully ignorant to my disinterest, as she pointed over at the bronze haired guy and the well-built machine sitting next to him. "The smaller girl over there is Alice. The other two, the blondes, are Jasper and Rosalie Hale. They all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife."

 _Well… isn't that just utterly fascinating?_

I couldn't help glancing sideways, seeing movement out of the corner of my eye.

The one with reddish brown hair – Edward? – lifted his head as he sat picking his bagel to pieces.

I wasn't paying that much attention – why would I? They weren't exactly anything special – but someone must've said something as he smirked to himself.

"Cool." I muttered in response to their expectant looks.

"But they're all together thought." The brunette girl, Jessica, giggled. I remembered her from my history class. I mean, who doesn't know what year the civil war began? "Emmett and Rosalie, Jasper and Alice… and they live together!"

 _Whoop-de-do… Give them all a coconut._

"Right." I nodded, slightly distracted by movement again as the Cullen guy's shoulders shook.

"Dr. Cullen's really young, like his twenties or thirties, so they're all adopted. Only the Hales are related."

 _Just shut up so I can eat my salad in peace._

A second later, the entire table in question began to chuckle to themselves, drawing strange looks from those around them, but I shrugged it off.

"Wait, is Edward… looking over here?" One of the girls asked, nodding towards the guy I'd been glancing at.

 _Does it matter, really?_

"Oh my God, he is!" Jess fluttered, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she flashed him a smile though it dropped as he turned his back to her. "That's Edward. He's gorgeous, of course, but don't bother wasting your time. He doesn't date. Apparently, none of the girls here are good looking enough for him."

 _Maybe if you didn't swoon over him like some kind of weird stalker fan girl, he might give you the time of day…_

I sat at the table with Jessica and her friends for a little bit longer – despite wanting to go and find a quiet corner and hide – then made my way over to biology.

As I walked down the aisle of the classroom to get my slip signed, I noticed that Edward Cullen was sat beside the only empty seat in the entire classroom.

 _Well, I guess it could be worse… least if no one's good enough for him, he won't bother speaking to me…_

He seemed to tense up as I passed, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked up at me.

 _Hey, I'm not like Jess… I don't see why she thinks the sun shines out of your ass._

Mr Banner signed the paper and handed me a book before gesturing to the seat beside the now rigid Cullen.

Sighing, I moved over and put my book on the table, not bothering to even attempt to make pleasantries with the guy.

 _What's the point? I don't care and he's tenser than a prostitute in church._

Unfortunately, the lecture was something I'd already covered, so I sat doodling on another piece of scrap paper and ignoring the weird behaviour of the person sat beside me.

 _I don't bite._

The class seemed to drag on for hours until finally, the bell rang.

In an instant, Edward was off of his seat and out of the door before I had the chance to grab my backpack from the floor.

 _Thank God for that._

"Aren't you Luna Goodwin?" a male voice asked.

I looked up to see a pudgy, baby face boy smiling down at me in the weirdest way.

 _Hi spike._

I nodded.

"I'm Mike."

"Hi."

"Do you need any help finding your next class?"

"Gym." I muttered, shaking my head as I knew exactly where it was though he didn't quite take the hint.

"That's my next class too!" he beamed, seemingly thrilled.

 _There's like thirty people in our grade… course we'll share a few classes._

We walked together – much to my annoyance – and he wouldn't shut up the entire time so I zoned out and stared at the floor instead.

"So, did you stab Edward Cullen with a pencil or what? I've never seen him act like that."

I shrugged, not really caring.

"He looked like he was in pain or something."

"Didn't notice."

"He's a weird guy." He informed me, lingering outside of the changing rooms as I tried to get away from him. "If I were lucky enough to sit by you, I'd have talked to you."

"Cool."

I turned around quickly and entered the locker room, happy to get away from the creep.

The gym teacher, Coach Clapp, found me a uniform but didn't make me dress down for the lesson which was good so I ended up watching four games of volleyball simultaneously.

When the final bell rang, I all but run to the office so I could give in my slip.

That's when I ran into my silent biology neighbour once again… well, nearly ran into him.

He was standing at the front desk, arguing with the woman about something or another, so I waited patiently behind him.

A minute later, another girl came in to drop off some papers in a wire basket.

It was then that he seemed to notice that I was there.

If looks could kill, I'd have been six feet under pushing up daisies.

"Never mind then." He murmured. "I can see that it's impossible. Thank you so much for your help."

 _Gee, someone needs to get laid._

He turned sharply on his heel and brushed past me, disappearing out of the door.

I took a step forward and placed the signed slip on the desk.

"How did your first day go, dear?"

"Good." I told her, offering her a smile.

By the time that I'd got back to my bike, the entire lot was empty.

"Nice." I murmured, taking a deep breath of the fresh air before climbing on and making my way back to Elizabeth's place.

* * *

 _ **So, what did you think?**_

 _ **Did you love it? Hate it? Should I keep going?**_


	3. Chapter Two: Open Book

_**Guess you all like it :3**_

 _ **I'd like to thank Theomidnight, SimplyKelly, TaTa B-P, Guest and bluestorm 28 for reviewing the last chapter; it really means a lot to me**_

 _ **I'd also like to take the opportunity to clear a few things up:**_

 _ **Yes, Edward can hear Luna's thoughts… well, most of the time but you'll see.**_

 _ **Yes, Luna is his singer… Different person to Bella but her blood is just as sweet.**_

 _ **I am a huge twilight fan and happen to be in love with Edward myself so all thoughts of Luna don't reflect my own :P**_

 _ **Awesome, now they've been cleared up hahaha… Hope you enjoy the next chapter.**_

* * *

 **Chapter Two – Open Book**

* * *

The next day was a little bit better… and a whole lot worse.

It was better because it hadn't started raining yet – which meant not having to sit in wet clothes all day – and the clouds were still dense enough that they blocked out the sunlight. All of this helped, as well as knowing where everything was.

The downside? I couldn't escape anyone!

Mike decided that he had to sit next to me in English and then walked me to my next class while Eric hung back and glared at the back of his head the entire way there.

At lunch, I couldn't shake the group – and believe me, I really did try – so I ended up sitting between Jessica and another one of her friends; I still hadn't bothered to learn any of their names.

On top of the lack of solitude, I hadn't exactly had the best night's sleep of my life the night before and then Varner called on me in Trig, despite my hand being firmly on my desk. I mean, I got the question right but that wasn't the point!

No hand means no clue… That's the unspoken rule.

Oh, and they made me play volleyball.

The only highlight of that dreadful experience was the fact that I got to smack Jessica in the back of the head… really hard; even after that, she wouldn't let me find a new table to sit on at lunch.

So after a fun filled morning, I walked into the cafeteria with Mike and everybody – much to my misery but they just wouldn't leave me alone – and saw that my angry biology neighbour wasn't sat with the rest of his siblings on my perfect table at the other end of the hall.

I did try and listen to them chattering away about nothing but I didn't have the energy to force myself to look interested.

By the time that biology came around, I was stumbling over my own feet due to lack of sleep while the guys walked me to my class.

I wouldn't admit it, especially not out loud, but I was sort of glad that they were there so I didn't have to focus on where I needed to go.

I sat myself down heavily in my seat while my self-appointed chaperone perching on the empty chair beside me, telling me about an upcoming trip to the beach. Luckily for the headache I could feel coming on, he scarpered when the bell rang and took his seat beside some chick with a god-awful perm and a mouth full of metal.

It was then that I decided that I needed to find some way of extracting myself from their group and their company.

To be honest, I just wanted to be alone.

When the day was finally done – and the smirk had left my face from the awesome volley to another girl's face – I changed back into my skinny jeans and vest then hurried out of the parking lot, pulling my leather jacket on as I ran.

It was too late by the time that I got there; the parking lot was already crowded with students, all of them desperate to escape.

I just climbed onto my bike and began to formulate a plan of attack for my visit to Thriftway.

The previous night, I'd discovered that Elizabeth's cooking skills were limited to bacon and toast – not bad for breakfast but something that'll grow old very quickly – so I told her that I'd handle the cooking while I was staying with her. She seemed thrilled as she pulled the 'food money' jar from the bottom cupboard and emptied it into my hand.

Once I was half awake, I made a quick list and shoved it into my bag with the money so I could head to the store the minute school finished.

I revved my engine loudly, smirking at the way that everyone's head in a six-foot radius snapped to state at me, and made my way into the line of cars that were waiting to exit.

It was then, as I waited, that I noticed the two Cullens and Hale twins climbing into the Volvo that I'd parked before the day before.

 _Not bad Cullen…_

They all seemed to turn at once and look at my motorcycle as I drove past them, just like everyone else, but I didn't care.

In minutes, I was speeding down the highway at seventy-five miles an hour.

It turns out that Thriftway wasn't that far from school – just a couple of streets south – so I overshot it the first time but I managed to find my way back easy enough.

It was pretty nice to be inside of a supermarket again; it felt normal to me.

Back at my father's, I did all the food shopping so I quickly fell back the rhythm, grabbing the usual supplies though I had to stop myself from adding a few crates of beer to the trolley.

 _Guess old habits die hard._

When I got home – a tricky task when you happen to be carrying a week's worth of groceries on the back of your bike – I put everything away and then wrapped up some potatoes in foil before sticking them in the oven to bake.

After some careful consideration, I decided to put one of the steaks in some marinade and balance it on top of the eggs, just in case Elizabeth was hungry when she finished work.

Once I was done, I ran upstairs to my room and changed into something more comfortable before beginning my homework… well, while I laid on my bed and re-read Wuthering Heights for the thirteenth time that year.

What can I say? I love a sad story.

 _My love for Linton is like the foliage in the wood: time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being. So don't talk of our separation again; it is impracticable._

That was what I was doing when Elizabeth came home; I'd completely lost all track of time when I heard her call my name from the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey." I called back, stretching a little before making my way down to her. "Good day?"

"Yeah, not bad thanks." She smiled, reaching out to squeeze the top of my arm as she took a seat at the table. "How was yours?"

"Good." I nodded, busying myself with checking on the food.

"What's for dinner?"

"Steak and potatoes." I answered, unable to stop the small chuckle as her eyes widened.

She sat there, watching me, as I threw together a simply salad while the steak cooked before setting the table.

"Smells really good, Lu." She murmured, her nose twitching appreciatively as I placed her plate down in front of her.

Dinner was a quiet affair but once we'd finished eating, and I had begun to wash the dishes, the Spanish inquisition started.

"So, how're you liking your new school? Have you managed to make any friends?"

"Yeah." I nodded, scrubbing a stubborn spot on one of the plates. "Some."

"That's good to hear. Anyone that I'll know?"

"Mike. Jessica. Eric." I muttered with a shrug, finishing the rest of the dishes quickly.

As much as I loathed the idea of calling them my friends, I really didn't want her to worry.

"Rings a few bells, especially Jess." She murmured, smiling. "Anyone else?"

"Nope."

"Found any guys you like yet? Mike maybe?"

I grimaced at the notion, a sickening feeling creeping into my stomach at the mere thought.

"Ew, no."

"Oh c'mon, there must be someone who's taken your fancy."

I was about the shake my head but then the image of my biology neighbour's face popped into my head.

Edward as easy on the eyes – I'm not completely blind to his looks – though I still struggled to see why everyone fawned over him like some Greek Adonis.

Then again, there was something about those intense, black eyes that seemed to stare right into your soul.

"Cullen." I murmured, the name escaping my lips before I had the chance to stop it.

"As in one of Dr. Cullen's kids?" she asked as I continued to put the plates away. "I've met him a few times. He's a great man."

"Right."

"You should see the doctor." Elizabeth murmured, chuckling to herself. "It's a good thing that he's happily married 'cause his wife would have a lot of competition. Every time you go in, there are all these nurses just throwing themselves at him."

I nodded along to her laughter, not quite sure as to how else I was supposed to react, and finished what I was doing while she wandered into the living room.

That night, I fell asleep the moment that my head hit the pillow.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful but that was perfect; it gave me the chance to get used to my class timetable and routine.

By Friday, I could even recognise most of the students at the school.

In gym class, the kids did learn not to pass me in the ball for fear of me trying to knock Jessica out again which was definitely putting a damper on my fun though I could see why; the nurse was beginning to get sick of seeing her sat outside of her office.

I did notice one thing though.

My grumpy biology neighbour didn't come back to school that week.

Every day, I watched the Cullens enviously – wondering what it would be like to be left alone by everyone – as they sat at their table before I was forced back in the usual mundane conversations surrounding the table that I was dragged to every day.

Mostly, it centred around a trip to La Push Ocean Park in a couple of weeks that Mike was busying himself with putting together.

I was invited, and I even agreed to show my face, though it was more out of politeness than any desire to go.

By Friday, I was sort of beginning to miss my neighbour, even though he never spoke a word to me.

Since he wasn't there, Mike kept on trying to convince Mr Banner to move him though, luckily, it never worked and he had to stay where he was assigned at the start of the year.

Once the last bell had rung, I was free to begin my first weekend in Forks.

Surprisingly, it passed without incident.

Elizabeth still wasn't used to spending time in the house so she worked most of the weekend, leaving me to busy myself with cleaning and wandering around the woods behind the house. I even managed to drive up to the library on Saturday but it was so poorly stocked – I mean, come on, what library doesn't have Pride and Prejudice? – that I didn't bother signing up for a card.

I did, however, promise myself that I'd ride up to Olympia or Seattle and find myself a descent bookstore.

The best thing about the whole weekend? I managed to catch up on some sleep.

The worst thing about the whole weekend? It was gone in the blink of an eye.

Strangely, a lot of people greeted me in the parking lot when I pulled up on Monday morning; I still didn't know any of their names but I gave them all a half-arsed wave which is more than anyone at my old school got.

In English, Mike took his seat next to me and muttered something about the beach trip, just as the teacher announced that we were having a pop quiz on Wuthering Heights.

It was a walk in the park, especially when the hardest question on it was: Why did Heathcliff think his dogs attacked Lockwood?

All in all, I was marginally more comfortable than I was the week before.

By the time that we walked out of class, the sky was full of thick white clouds and the school was full of excited conversations.

"Wow, it's snowing."

"Cool." I muttered back, a small smile pulling on the corners of my mouth as I lifted my head, watching the snowflakes as they danced from the sky.

"Wait, you like snow?" Mike asked, looking shocked.

I didn't really blame him for his surprise; I grew up in Florida where snow was about as likely as Godzilla shoving his head through your dining room and stealing your chicken.

"Yepp."

He laughed, just a snow ball smacked him square in the back of the head.

I whipped around, curious as to who had thrown it, and saw Eric wiping his hands on the back of his jeans as he walked away.

"I'll see you at lunch." He said, his eyes carefully trained on the retreating figure, as he crouched down to pick up a handful of snow.

"Okay."

I dawdled to the cafeteria with Jessica after Spanish, amused at the way that the school ground had become one huge snowball battlefield.

Mike managed to catch up to us as we walked through the door, chuckling, as ice melted the gel that held the spikes in his hair. The pair of them began to speak animatedly about the snow fight while we lined up for food.

I zoned out a bit, not that interested about where the best snow patches and hiding places were; out of habit, I found myself glancing over to the Cullen table, only to see that there were now five bodies there instead of the four I'd become accustomed to seeing.

 _Looks like grumpy arse biology neighbour is back…_

"Come on Luna, what do you want?"

Shaking my head a little, I reached out and grabbed a salad, placing it on my tray along with a bottle of water before making my way down the line.

By the time I'd reached the table, everybody was already deep in conversation so I risked another glance at the table.

Emmett, Jasper and Edward were all laughing, their hair completely soaked with melting snow, while Alice and Rosalie leaned away to avoid getting wet.

 _Big fella can have fun… Makes ya wonder if Grumpy can too…_

At that moment, as if reading my mind, his laughter suddenly stopped.

A second later, Edward glanced my way, capturing my eyes with his.

"Edward Cullen is staring at you." Jessica giggled as I finally managed to pull my gaze away from his, choosing to focus on my salad instead of him.

"So?"

"The Cullens don't like anybody… well, they don't notice anybody enough to like them… but he's still staring at you."

"Right." I drawled, rolling my eyes at how giddy she sounded.

 _Someone, please save me._

I lifted my eyes to meet his gaze again, confused by the small smirk on his face.

That was when my thoughts were interrupted by Mike babbling on about his plans of having this epic battle in the parking after school.

Jessica agreed to the idea enthusiastically, probably because she fancied the pants off him, while I remained quiet.

The rest of the lunch hour was spent listening to them all chat amongst themselves before finally being able to leave for biology.

Once inside the classroom, I made my way over to my table and watched as Mr. Banner walked around the room, distributing one microscope and a box of slides to each pair.

The class wasn't due to start for a few minutes but the entire room was buzzing with conversation about snowballs and strategies; I sat doodling on a piece of paper until I heard the chair beside me scrape against the tiled floor.

 _Welcome back Grumpy…_

"Hello," said a quiet, rather musical, voice.

I glanced up quickly – rather surprised by the fact that he was actually bothering to speak to me – to see that he was sitting as far away from me as the desk would physically allow yet his chair was angled towards me.

"My name is Edward Cullen," he continued as a small smile appeared on his face. "I didn't have the chance to introduce myself last week. You must be Luna Goodwin."

 _Now he speaks? Holy shit, quick, someone call the student paper._

"Yepp." I answered.

Thankfully, Mr. Banner started class a moment later, explaining what it was that we would be doing.

The slide in the box were out of order; working as lab partners, we had to separate the slides of onion root cells into the phases of mitosis that they represented before labelling them accordingly, all without t using our textbooks.

He gave us all twenty minutes before he'd begin wandering around to see who managed to get it right.

"Get started."

"Ladies first, partner?" Edward asked, drawing my attention back to him.

 _Okay, I can sorta see why the girls around here like you._ I thought to myself as I looked at the crooked smile on his face. _Still think you're a bit of an arsehole personally._

"Or I could start, if you wish." The smile faded away.

"No." I muttered, picking up a slide and then placing it under the microscope, quickly adjusting it to 40X objective. "Prophase."

"Do you mind if I look?" he asked, just as I began to remove the slide.

He reached forward, his hand catching mine to stop me, but I pulled away quickly; his fingers were like blocks of ice!

 _Might wanna rub your hands together… they're still cold from throwing snowballs…_

"I'm sorry." He muttered, moving his hand away immediately.

Seeing the slight frown on his face, I pushed the microscope toward him and watched as he took a peek.

"Prophase." He agreed, neatly writing it in the first space on our worksheet before swiftly swapping the slides.

"Anaphase." He murmured, writing it down as he spoke.

 _May I be so bold as to take a look?_

"Apologies, my manners." He said, pushing the microscope toward me.

I took a quick glance and then nodded in confirmation.

"Anaphase."

"Next slide?" he asked, the slide already in his hand.

"Please."

He handed it over to me, seeming to be very careful as not to touch my skin again.

"Interphase." I told him, pushing the microscope back his way before he had the chance to ask.

He took a quick look and then wrote it down.

Really, I could've written it while he was looking but his hand writing was a hell of a lot neater than mine would ever be so I let him carry on.

Before I knew it, we'd finished; the same couldn't be said for the rest of the class.

I could see Mike and his partner comparing two slides over and over again while another group kept throwing sneaky glances to their open text book beneath the table.

This left me with nothing to do but draw as my mind wandered freely until I felt something strange.

Turning to the side, I saw him staring at me with a strange look in his eyes.

That was when I noticed something.

 _Wonder if he wears contacts… his eyes aren't dark anymore… shame really._

He looked away, his hands clenched into hard fists on the top of the table.

I didn't bother saying anything – what was the point? – and went back to my doodling until Mr. Banner came over to see why we weren't working.

He looked over our shoulders to see the completed lab then his stare became more intense as he scrutinised our answers.

"So, Edward, didn't you think that Luna should get a chance with the microscope?"

"Luna actually identified three of the five."

The teacher's eyes flickered over to me, his expression tinted with scepticism.

 _What the hell is that look supposed to mean?_

"Have you done this lab before?"

 _Not exactly… slight differences._

"Sort of."

"Whitefish blastula?"

"Yeah."

He nodded, looking slightly impressed. "Were you in an advance placement program in Phoenix?"

 _As well as a few other advance programs._

I nodded.

"Well," he said after a moment, glancing between the pair of us. "I guess it's a good thing that you two are lab partners."

After he left, I began drawing again.

"It's too bad about the snow, isn't it?" Edward asked though it sounded forced.

"Not really." I answered, shrugging.

"You don't like the cold." That didn't sound like a question.

"I love it." I corrected, offering him a small smile.

"Phoenix must've been a difficult place for you to live." He mused.

"You've no idea." I muttered darkly, forcing myself not to think about my father.

For a moment, he looked fascinated by what I'd said.

"Is that why you come here then? To escape the heat?"

"It's complicated."

"I think I can keep up." He pressed.

That was when I made the mistake of meeting his gaze.

I answered without thinking.

"My father remarried." I told him, wincing at how easily that had come out.

"That doesn't sound so complex." He disagreed though his face shifted into a sympathetic expression. "When did that happen?"

"Last September." My voice sounded sad, even to me.

"And you don't like her?" Edward surmised, his tone kind.

"You've no idea."

"Why didn't you stay there with them?"

I didn't understand his sudden interest, but he continued to stare at me with deep penetrating eyes, as if my life was somehow important.

For a moment, I found myself back in that house with them, hearing their slurred calls for my name.

I pushed it away quickly.

His face went blank for a moment, the confusion returning tenfold.

"Mother lives here." I told him, shrugging. "and it's cold."

"So, he sent you here because of his wife." he said it as an assumption again, not a question.

"Sent myself here."

His eyebrows knitted together. "I don't understand." He admitted, seeming unnecessarily frustrated by that fact. "You sent yourself here but now you're unhappy."

"Not really."

"It just doesn't seem fair." He shrugged, his eyes still intense.

"Hasn't anyone told you?" I asked, laughing without a trace of humour. "Life isn't fair."

"I believe I have heard that somewhere before." He agreed dryly.

"That's all." I insisted, curious as to why he was still staring at me like that.

His gaze then shifted, becoming more appraising.

"You put on a good show." He said slowly. "But I'd be willing to bet that you're suffering more than you let anyone else see."

 _Not suffering any more._

"Am I wrong?"

I ignored him, turning back to my drawings.

"I didn't think so." He murmured smugly.

"Why does it matter to you anyway?" I snapped, irritated, as I watched the teacher make his rounds.

"That's a very good question," he muttered, so quietly that I wondered if he was talking to himself.

After a few seconds of silence, I realised that that was the only answer that I was going to get from him.

"Am I annoying you?" he asked, sounding amused.

"Yeah." I answered flatly, turning to look at him. "You're a pain in the ass." I continued, amused by the way his eyes widened slightly though I didn't know if it was the colour of my language or the fact that I'd said more than a few words; to be honest, it surprised me too.

"You, Luna Goodwin, are very difficult for me to read." He murmured, sounding genuine.

"Must be a good reader then."

"Usually." He assured me, flashing me a wide grin.

Mr Banner called the class to order again so I turned and listening, disbelieving the conversation that had just taken place.

 _Did that just happen or what I just imagining it?_

I glanced sideways to see him leaning away from me again, his hands gripping at the edge of the table.

I tried to look like I was paying attention as he illustrated, with transparencies on the overhead projector, what I'd seen without difficulty through the microscope but I struggled to concentrate.

When the bell finally rang, Edward rushed from the room like he had my first day there.

Mike was by my side quickly, scooping up my books.

"That was awful," he groaned. "They all looked the same. You're lucky you had Cullen for a partner."

"Didn't have any trouble with it." I murmured, smirking at the surprise on his face.

"Cullen seemed friendlier today." He commented as he put on his jacket though he didn't seem too pleased about the fact that me and my biology neighbour were getting on.

 _Nice to know it wasn't all in my head._

I didn't bother trying to keep up with chattering as we walked to Gym and PE didn't do much to hold my attention either. Mike was on my team today. He chivalrously covered my position as well as his own, so my wool-gathering was only interrupted when it was my turn to serve.

Jessica ducked out of the way, just like every other time I was up.

The rain was just mist as I walked to the parking lot, but I was happier when I got sat on my wet seat.

Zipping up my jacket, I pulled my hair back into a pony tail then had a glance around to make sure it was clear.

That was when I noticed the still, white figure.

Edward Cullen was leaning against the front door of the Volvo, a couple of cars down from me, and stared intently in my direction.

I pulled my eyes and away reversed, almost hitting a Toyota Corolla but I didn't care.

I just flipped the driver the bird as I pulled away.

I swore I heard Edward chuckle.

* * *

 _ **So, what do you think?**_

 _ **Should I continue or cut it off here?**_


	4. Chapter Three: Phenomenon

_**Two chapters in two days? Not too bad if I do say so myself.**_

 _ **What can I say? I need to know how it goes as much as you do.**_

 _ **Quick shout out to: TheoMidnight (Thanks for your support honey!), PuffyChair (I'm so glad you love Luna as much as I do) , SimplyKelly (Here it is darling!) and Chaney2250 (My thoughts exactly. As a writer, I struggle using Bella 'cause she's a bit too much of a Mary Sue…) for reviewing.**_

 _ **There is a warning for this chapter as it does contain self-harming towards the end so you've been warned.**_

 _ **Okay, on we go ...**_

* * *

 **Chapter Three – Phenomenon**

* * *

When I opened my eyes in the morning, something was different.

It took me a while of serious thought but I eventually worked it out; it was the light.

It was still the gray-green light of a cloudy day in the forest but it was clearer somehow. Turns out it was because there wasn't any fog veiling my window.

I quickly jumped up to take a look outside, grinning at the sight I was met with.

A fine layer of snow covered the yard, dusted the top of my seat, and whitened the road.

That wasn't even the best part!

All of the rain from the day before had completely frozen solid – coating the needles on the trees in fantastic, intricate patterns – and making the driveway a make-shift ice rink.

I couldn't wait to climb on my bike.

By the time I'd gotten ready and got downstairs, Elizabeth had already left for work.

In many ways, living with my mom was like having my own place; it was fantastic.

I threw down a bowl of cereal and some coffee, too excited to stomach anything too heavy. I knew that I shouldn't have felt that way, especially when it was about speeding down icy roads on a fifty-year-old bike, but I couldn't help it.

After I'd pulled on my jacket and some fingerless gloves, I practically slid from the door to my bike, almost losing my balance once I reached my bike but I didn't mind.

Clearly, the ride to school was going to be a lot more fun that previous mornings.

The wind whipped through my hair as I made my way to school – I still hadn't invested in a brain bucket and tying it in a ponytail hadn't even crossed my mind – and my bike swayed from side to side as I hit the odd pot hole and bump in the road. Turns out that Pandora, my bike, didn't have a problem with the black ice like I thought she might've but just enough of an issue to make it interesting.

When I drove into the school parking lot, I was met with a couple of wide eyed glances though I didn't know why. Was it because I was at school earlier than usual? Could be because I didn't give a shit about personal safety? I didn't know.

All I did know is that there was a high-pitched shriek that was getting louder by the second.

That was when I saw a few things simultaneously, probably because of the adrenaline still pumping through my veins from the ride up.

The first Edward Cullen's face; he was standing four cars away, staring over at me with a look of horror like the rest of the students there.

The second, and arguable more urgent, thing was the dark blue van that was skidding towards me, it's tyres locked and squealing against the brakes as it span widely across the ice covering the parking lot.

 _It sorta looks like a figure skater._ I mused, smirking a little. _But a little deadlier. Probably should get out of-_

My thoughts were interrupted my something hitting me, hard, though it was in the opposite direction to what I was expecting.

I felt a sharp pain at the back of my head as it cracked against the ground before something solid and cold pinned me down. I was lying on the concrete behind the tan car that I'd pulled up next to but I didn't have the chance to notice much else because the van was still coming.

It had curled gratingly around my bike and, still spinning, was about to collide with me again.

It was a low oath that made me away that there was someone else there with me, and the voice was impossible not to recognise.

Instinctively, I threw my arms out to stop it but two pale hands batted them away and shot out protectively in front of me. The van shuddered to a stop a foot away my face, the larger hands fitting providentially into a deep dent in the side of the vehicle's body.

His hands moved so fast that they blurred.

One was suddenly gripping under the body of the van, and something was dragging me, swinging my legs around until they hit the tyre of the tan car.

A groaning metallic thud echoed in my ears; the van settled, glass popping, onto the asphalt where my legs had been a second before.

It took a seemingly endless second for the screaming to begin.

In the absolute bedlam, I could hear my name repeated over and over again from every direction but it was Edward's that was the clearest.

"Luna? Are you all right?" he asked frantically, his voice barely above a murmur.

"I'm fine." I slurred, wincing as my body began to throb. "Let me go." I tried to sit up, pushing him away when I realised that he was holding me against the side of his body, but he wouldn't release me.

"Be careful," he warned as I struggled against him. "I think you hit your head pretty hard."

"Think you're right there neighbour." I muttered, reaching up to touch my head, hissing as my fingers made contact with my skin.

"That's what I thought." For a second, I swore he was suppressing laughter, but shook it off.

"How in the…" I began, trying to sort my head out. "How'd you manage to get over here so fast?"

"I was standing right next to you Luna." He told me, his tone deathly serious.

Shoving him away, I looked up at the concern in his eyes and found myself almost breathless as the world span around me.

That was when they found us, a crowd of people with tears streaming down their faces, shouting at us.

"Don't move!" Someone instructed.

"Get Tyler out of the van!" Someone else shouted, starting the flurry of activity around us.

Feeling a little better, I tried to get up, but Edward's cold hand pushed my shoulder down.

"Just, stay put for now."

"I'm getting a wet ass." I muttered, my eyes widening slightly in surprise as he chuckled under his breath.

It was then, as I stared at him laughing at him, that I remembered.

"You were over there by your car." I told him.

His chuckling stopped the moment I spoke.

"No, I wasn't."

"Pretty sure you were." I tried as chaos began all around us.

"Luna, I was standing with you and I pulled you out of the way." He explained slowly, his eyes becoming devastatingly torn at that moment.

"No." I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest, adamant that I was right.

The gold in his eyes blazed. "Please, Luna."

"Why?" I demanded, staring at him.

"Trust me." He pleaded, his voice so soft but, at the same time, overwhelming.

"Okay." I could hear sirens in the background, the shrill noise steadily getting louder by the second. "but will you at least explain it to me later?"

"Fine." He snapped.

"Fine." I repeated, mocking his annoyance with a smirk.

It took six EMTS and two teachers – Mr. Varner and Coach Clapp – to move the van far enough away from us to bring the stretchers in. Edward vehemently refused his, and I tried to do the same thing since I felt fine, but the arsehole told them that I'd smacked my head and probably had a concussion.

It looked like the entire school was there, watching soberly as they loaded me into the back of the ambulance.

Worst of all, the smug bastard who betrayed me got to ride in the front!

Then, to make matters worse, Chief Swan and Deputy Goodwin reached the scene before they managed to load me in.

"Luna!" Elizabeth yelled in panic as she recognised me on the stretcher.

"Hi mom!" I called back, waving. "Don't worry, I'm completely fine… just nearly got crushed by a van."

There must've been something off with my face as she turned to the closest EMT and asked for a second opinion.

While he explained, I tried to work my way through the jumble of inexplicable images that spun around in my head.

When they'd lifted me from the car, I'd seen the deep dent in the tan car's bumper – it was a very distinctive dent that fit the contours of Edward's shoulder perfectly like he's braced himself against it – and then there were the expressions on his siblings faces as they looked on.

To say that their brother had saved someone while risking his own life, they didn't seem concerned or relieved… just furiously disapproving.

As I waited for us to leave the school, I did try to think of a logical solution that could've explained what I'd seen but I struggled to find one that meant I still had my sanity.

Naturally, the ambulance gained a police escort to the county hospital.

I felt utterly ridiculous the entire time they were unloading me while Edward merely glided through the doors like he owned the place.

 _Stupid, smug, arsehole!_

They plopped me down in the emergency room – a long room with a line of beds separated by pastel patterned curtains – so a nurse could come and put a pressure cuff on my arm and a thermometer under my tongue.

Since they didn't bother closing the curtain, I assumed that I was free to take off the neck brace so I unfastened the Velcro and threw it under the neighbouring bed… all after the nurse had left, of course.

A few minutes later, there was another flurry of hospital personnel as another stretcher was brought to the bed next to mine. Turns out it was Tyler Crowley – I struggled to see him at first with all the bloody bandages around his head – from my government glass.

"Luna! I'm so sorry!" he called, staring at me anxiously.

"It's fine." I assured him with a shrug. "Shit happens. You okay though? You look awful."

As we spoke, a nurse began to remove his bandages to reveal a myriad of shallow slices all over his forehead and left cheek.

"I thought that I was going to kill you!" he continued, completely ignoring everything I'd said. "I was going too fast and then I hit the ice wrong…"

"Don't worry about it. You missed me."

"How did you get out of the way so fast?" he asked, wincing as the nurse dabbed at a few of the cuts with an alcohol soaked cotton pad. "You were there, and then you were gone."

"Edward managed to yank me out of the way."

"Who?"

"Edward Cullen." I offered, shrugging. "We were talking about Biology when I got in. Good job he spotted you." I lied easily, offering him a smile. "If he hadn't of been there… well…"

"Cullen? I didn't see him… Wow, it was all so fast, I guess. If he okay?"

"He's fine… didn't even need a stretcher."

His words were all the confirmation I needed to know that I wasn't going crazy.

A few minutes later, I was wheeled away to have my head examined, despite me telling them that I was completely fine.

Turns out I was right; I didn't even have a concussion.

I tried sneaking off – badly – and was told to find a doctor so I was trapped in ER until someone could see me, forced to listen to Tyler's constant apologetic babbling.

I managed for a few minutes before I laid back on my bed, allowing my eyes to close as I listened to the noises of the room.

"Is she sleeping?" a musical voice – that I recognised instantly – asked.

"You've got a nerve." I growled, my eyes snapping open, as I moved to sit up.

Edward was standing at the foot of the bed, smirking, so I narrowed my eyes and gave him the harshest glare I could muster.

"Hey, Edward. I'm really sorry- " Tyler began but he lifted a hand to stop him.

"No blood, no foul." He said with a smile, as he moved to sit on the edge of his bed facing towards me.

"So, what's the verdict?" he asked, smirking.

"You're a stupid, smug arsehole." I snapped causing him to chuckle. "There's nothing wrong with me, just love my sparkling company so they're keeping me around to cheer up the place…. Anyway, why aren't you strapped to a gurney like the rest of us?"

"It's all about who you know." He answered with a wink. "But don't worry, I've come to spring you."

Just as he said that, a doctor walked around the corner; my mouth almost fell open at the sight of him.

He was young, tall, blonde and very easy on the eyes. He was also pale, tired looking and had dark circles around his eyes like most of the other people working in the hospital.

 _Well, this must be the doctor that Elizabeth was going on about… that'd make him…_

"So, Miss Goodwin," Dr. Cullen said. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." I told him, hoping he'd just sign the paperwork and let me go.

"Well," he began, walking over the light board on the wall above my head before flicking it on. "Your X-rays look good. Does your head hurt? Edward mentioned that you hit it pretty hard."

"It's fine." I repeated through gritted teeth, throwing at a glare at the aforementioned pain in my ass.

 _God, I hate you so much._

As if not believing me, he took a step closer and began to probe my skull lightly with his fingertips, only stopping when I winced a bit.

"Tender?"

"Not really."

I heard a chuckle and looked over to see Edward's patronizing smile.

 _Trust me Doc, I've had worse._

It fell away a second later.

"Well, your mother is in the waiting room – you can go home with her now. Come back if you feel dizzy or have any trouble with your eyesight at all."

"Don't suppose I can go back to school, can I?" I asked.

"Maybe you should take it easy today."

"Does he get to go to school?" I glanced over at his son, narrowing my eyes.

"Someone has to spread the good news that we survived." Edward responded smugly.

"Such an arsehole." I muttered under my breath, shaking my head while hoping his dad hadn't heard.

Never piss off the people at the hospital… I learned that the hard way.

"Actually," Dr. Cullen corrected. "most of the school seemed to be in the waiting room."

"Oh for God's sake!" I groaned, running a hand over my face.

"Do you want to stay?" the doctor asked, his eyebrows raised.

"Nope." I insisted, throwing myself off of the bed quickly.

Too quickly.

I staggered, leaving Dr. Cullen to lunge forward and catch me with a concerned look on his face.

"Don't worry… I'm fine."

"Take some Tylenol for the pain."

"Trust me Doc, doesn't hurt that much." I assured him with a smile as he steadied me.

"It sounds like you were extremely lucky." He murmured, signing my chart with a flourish.

"Lucky that Edward came over to talk about biology." I amended, throwing a hard glance his son's way.

"Oh, well. Yes." He agreed, suddenly occupied with the papers in front of him, before turning away to walk to the next bed.

Something told me that the doctor was in on it… whatever 'it' happened to be.

"I'm afraid that you'll have to stay in a little longer Mr. Crowley."

As soon as his back was turn, I moved over to stand beside his son.

"Don't mind if I talk to you for a minute, do you?" I asked as sweetly as I could, surprised as he took a step away from me.

"Your mother is waiting for you." He hissed through clenched teeth.

"I'd really like to speak to you alone, if you wouldn't mind." I pressed, my eyes flickering over to the others in the room.

He glared but didn't disagree so I followed him out of the room and down one of the corridors until he span around to face me.

"What do you want?"

 _Someone sounds annoyed._

"Don't you think you owe me a bit of an explanation?" I reminded him.

"I saved your life… I don't owe you anything."

"You already said you would."

"Luna," he sighed. "You hit you head. You don't know what you're talking about."

"There is nothing wrong with my head!" I growled, glaring at him.

"What do you want from me Luna?" he asked, returning my glare.

"I want to know what the hell is going on."

"What you think is going on?"

It all came out in a rush.

"I know you weren't anywhere near me 'cause Tyler didn't see you either so I didn't hit my head to hard. The van should've crushed us both – but it didn't – and your hands left dents in the side of it." I began, taking a step towards him. "There was a dent in the other car too but you're not hurt at all… and the van should've crushed my legs but you held it up so it wouldn't."

Yes, I sounded that crazy but I didn't care.

"You think that I lifted the van off you?" His tone seemed to question my sanity – something that I was beginning to do too – which only made me more suspicious.

"Yeah, I do."

"Nobody will believe that, you know."

"Wasn't plan on telling anyone." I told him, watching as surprise flittered across his face.

"Then why does it matter?"

"Matters to me… I don't like to lie without knowing the reason behind it."

"Can't you just thank me and get over it?"

"Thanks." I sighed, my shoulders slumping forward.

"You're not going to let it go, are you?"

 _Course I'm not._

"Yeah."

"I hope you enjoy disappointment." He muttered, scowling at me.

"Out of curiosity," I began, running a hand through my curls. "Why did you bother?"

 _I wouldn't have cared… Death wouldn't have been that bad…_

"I don't know." He whispered, giving me a pained look, before turning his back and walking away.

I left it a few minutes and then made my way into the waiting room.

It was like a nightmare.

It seemed as though every face I knew in Forks was there, staring at me.

"There's nothing wrong with me." I assured Elizabeth as she rushed towards me. "Dr. Cullen said I'm fine to go home so let's go."

We seemed to be home in minutes – though I don't know if it was because of the shock or because I'd just stared out of the window – so I made my way upstairs to my room, stopping in the bathroom on the way.

The moment I locked the door behind me, I made my way over to my shelf to grab one of cheap disposable razors I'd picked up at the airport.

Turning the shower on to cover the noise, I snapped the plastic holder and held the blade between my fingers before slowly dragging it across my wrist.

It burned for a second before going numb, taking the pain in my head along with it.

Once I'd finished, I cleaned the three new cuts and covered it with the sleeve of my sweater then made my way into my room.

 _That's better._ I decided, laying down on my bed; it wasn't long after that I drift off to sleep.

That was the first night I dreamed of Edward Cullen.

* * *

 _ **So there you go…**_

 _ **What do you think?**_


	5. Chapter Four: Invitations

_**So here's chapter four guys!**_

 _ **Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed and favourited this story; I love you all!**_

 _ **Don't know if I can keep up this writing pace but I'll have a damn good go.**_

 _ **Hope you enjoy!**_

* * *

 _ ** **Chapter Four - Invitations****_

* * *

In my dream, it was very dark; what light there was seemed to be radiating from Edward's pale skin.

I couldn't see his face, just his back, as he walked away and left me in the darkness.

It seemed that, no matter how fast I ran, I couldn't keep up with him; no matter how loud I called, he never turned.

Troubled, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't go back to sleep.

After that, he was a regular star in my dreams though always on the periphery.

He was never within reach.

The month that followed the accident was uneasy, tense and quite embarrassing.

To my dismay, I found myself the centre of attention for the rest of the week.

Tyler Crowley was impossible! He kept following me around like some lost puppy dog, obsessed with find a way to make amends with me; I tried to convince him that all I wanted was for him to forget and move on but that just wasn't enough for the guy! He followed me around between classes and perched himself on the now-crowded table at lunch.

There was something amusing about it though; Mike and Erik were less friendly to him than they were to each other which was hilarious to watch.

No one seemed concerned about Edward though, despite me explaining that he was the hero who yanked me out of the way, risking himself in process.

His heroism was brushed aside; sucks to be him.

Then again, he was never surrounded by crowds of curious bystanders eager for his first-hand account of what happened that day.

People just avoided him as usual.

The Cullens and the Hales continued to sit at their usual table talking amongst themselves. That wasn't really a bad thing either; none of them bothered to look my way which suited me just fine.

 _Maybe the dreams will stop now._

When Edward sat next to me in class, as far from me as the table would allow him, he seemed completely unaware of presence; I'd be lying if I said it didn't bother me at all – because it did every now and again – especially when I move and he balls his fists up as though I was trying to get closer to him,

It was during those silent biology classes that I realised something: he wished that he hadn't pulled me out of the way.

 _Don't blame you… to be honest, I wished you hadn't._

He was already seated by the time I arrived, his eyes glued to the board in front of him, as I moved to take my seat.

 _Hi Edward, how're you today? Oh, that's nice to hear. Me? No, I haven't been up to much either._

He turned his head a fraction towards me – not meeting my gaze – and offered me a small nod as I unpacked my things on the table.

That was the last time he'd acknowledged my presence, despite me being sat a foot away from him every day.

At first, this was a good thing until I realised that the dreams weren't going away.

Mike, at least, appreciated the coolness between me and my neighbour. He grew more confident, sitting on the edge of the table to talk before Biology started, ignoring Edward as he ignored us.

The snow washed away for good after that one dangerously icy day which disappointed my self-appointed chaperone since he didn't get to stage this amazing snowball fight to end all snowball fights; he was pleased that the beach trip could go ahead sooner than he thought though.

The rain, however, continued heavily as the weeks passed.

Jessica made me aware of another event that was looming on the horizon – she called the first Tuesday of Mark to ask my permission to invite Mike to the girl's choice spring dance in a couple of weeks' time.

"Are you sure you don't mind… you weren't planning to ask him?" she persisted, despite me telling her over and over again that I'd rather put pins in my eyes than actually attend the event, no matter who my date was.

"Jess, I'm not going." I reminded her, shaking my head at her relived sigh.

"It will be really fun." Her attempt was so half-hearted, bless her. I suspected that she liked the fact that everyone was interested in me more than she actually liked me; I was her ticket to popularity.

"You go and have fun with Mike." I encouraged.

The next day, I surprised that Jessica wasn't her usual gushing self in Trig and Spanish.

Usually, I couldn't get her to shut her cake hole but she walked by my side between classes in complete silence; I wasn't complaining, I loved the whole strong and silent vibe she had going, but it was slightly unnerving.

 _Guessing Mike said no._

My suspicions were confirmed at lunch when she sat as far away from Mike as physically possible while chatting to Eric.

Just like Jess, Mike was quiet on our way to class; the uncomfortable look on his face was a bad sign but he didn't broach the subject until I was sat in my seat next to grumpy arse and he was perched on my desk.

"So," he began, his eyes glued to the floor. "Jessica asked me to the spring dance."

"That's great." I tried to feign enthusiasm. "You'll have loads of fun with her, I'm sure."

"Well," he floundered, lifting his gaze to my face for a second. "I told her I'd think about it."

"Why the hell would you do that?" I asked, making the disapproval in my voice clear in case he had any other ideas in his head. "She's cute…" I had nothing else to add to that.

"Well, I was wondering if… well, if you might be planning to ask me."

"Were you planning on taking a fifty story dive off the end of a cliff?" I blurted without thinking, wincing slightly as both his and Edward's eyes snapped up to me. "Mike, tell Jessica you'll go with her."

"Did you already ask someone else?" he pressed, his eyes flickering to the man sat beside me.

"I'm not going to the dance at all." I told him.

"Why not?"

 _I don't know… because I don't really like many people here? Because I'd rather take a running jump off a cliff?_

"I'm going to Seattle that Saturday." I explained, making a new set of plans. I did keep meaning to go find a book shop, why not then when I wasn't doing anything?

"Can't you go some other weekend?"

"See, I'm afraid I can't… there's this huge Jane Austin thing on and I love me a bit of Darcy."

He laughed at that, staring at me as if it was some big joke.

"Laugh as much as you choose, but you will not laugh me out of my opinion." I quoted casually, flipping him the bird as his laughter stopped. "Don't leave Jess hanging… it's a dick move."

"Yeah, you're right." He mumbled as he turned around, walking back to his seat dejected.

Mr Banner began talking a second later.

I tried to listen but I couldn't ignore the fact that Edward was staring at me, his eyes full of curiosity and frustration.

Sick of it, I turned to stare back.

He didn't look away; instead, I found myself staring straight into the endless black depths of his eyes.

"Mr. Cullen?" the teacher called, seeking an answer to the question I hadn't heard.

"The Krebs Cycle." Edward answered, seeming a little reluctant to pull his gaze away as he turned to look at Mr Banner.

I went back to doodling on the inside cover of my text book, spending the rest of the hour ignoring his existence, until the bell rang.

I gathered my things and crammed them back into my bag, half expecting him to already be out of the door, but he was still there.

"Luna?"

I raised my eyes slowly to meet his, careful not to get pulled back into his gaze.

"Finally speaking to me again?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, not really." He admitted, a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

"Then what do you want?"

"I'm sorry." It sounded sincere. "I'm being very rude, I know… but it's better this way, really."

He did look very serious.

"I don't know what you mean."

"It's better if we're not friends. Trust me."

"Wow, hold up." I muttered, holding a finger up to shut him up before he had the chance to speak again. "What, on God's green earth, makes you think I want to be friends with a stuck-up arsehole like you?"

"I-"

"No." I interrupted, throwing my bag over my shoulder. "Don't even start. I don't know how things worked around here before, or why girls seem to fall over themselves because of you, but I don't give a shit. Not everyone around here wants to be your friend… How could I possibly be friends with someone who regrets doing something slightly heroic?"

"You think I regret saving your life?" he asked, his voice sounding mad, as he clenched his fists by his sides.

"Think? Oh, no, I know you do."

"You don't know anything."

"I know all that I need to know." I told him before leaving the room as quickly as I could, ignoring the looks thrown at me by a few of the girls that had lingered behind because he was there.

Gym was my next class and it was brutal!

We'd moved onto basketball and my team never passed me the ball – which was a good thing – but the opposite team happened to contain the girls who'd heard me call their king an arse hole so I was getting barged left, right and centre.

After an hour of having my arse served to me, we got the leave which was the biggest relief of the day.

I practically ran to my bike, not wanting to run into anyone, and ended up running into Eric.

"Hey Luna!"

"Hi Eric," I called back, digging into my jacket pocket to find my keys. "What's up?"

"Uh, I was just wondering… if you would go to the spring dance with me?"

"I thought it was girl's choice?" I grumbled, pulling my keys out with a sigh of relief. "As I said to Mike, I'm going to Jane Austin event that weekend." I lied, throwing my leg over my motorcycle as I started my bike up.

"Oh, maybe next time."

"Probably not."

He slouched off back towards school, just as I heard a low chuckle.

Edward was walking past the front of my bike, his eyes locked ahead of him and his lips pressed together.

Unable to resist, I revved my engine as loud as I could to cause him to jump but he was already in his Volvo a few places down, sliding out in front of me.

"You're such an arsehole!" I shouted, knowing that he could hear me through his partially opened window but he didn't react; he just stopped there, waiting for his family. "Oh, come on!" I threw my hand in the air, glaring at him. "They're gonna take ages walking from the cafeteria! Let me out!"

"Hey, Luna!" Tyler called, climbing out of his newly acquired Sentra.

"Stuck behind Cullen." I grumbled, pointing to the Volvo in front. "I'd slip past but I wouldn't put it past the bastard to reverse."

"Oh, I know. I just wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here." He grinned.

 _This can't be happening again!_

"Will you ask me to the spring dance?"

"I'm going to be in Seattle that weekend. Why don't you just fuck off and ask someone who you didn't almost kill with your van!?" I shouted, losing my cool.

I didn't care; I'd had enough of guys thinking that I was interested. I was just trying to be nice!

"Yeah, Mike said that." He admitted, obviously not listening to the second part of that sentence.

"Then why bother to ask me?" I snapped, narrowing my eyes at him.

"I was hoping you were letting him down easy." He shrugged.

"Do you know what, it's worth the risk." I decided, kicking off to ride around the Volvo.

Admittedly, as I passed, I really wanted to stick my foot out and scratch the paint job but I didn't; I decided I'd act like the grown-up I was trying to be.

When I got home, I decided to make chicken enchiladas for dinner; it was a long processed that'd keep me fairly busy.

While I was simmering the onions and chillies, the phone rang.

After a minute of debating, I answered it to a jubilant Jessica screaming that Mike had caught her after school and accepting her invitation. She was done quickly – she needed to call Angela and Lauren and tell them – so I suggested the girls could ask Eric and Tyler out the hung up to concentrate on dinner.

As much as I hate to admit it, my thoughts did drift to Edward while I stood there stirring.

 _What does he mean? Better off not being friends?_

When Elizabeth returned home, she seemed pretty happy about dinner though she did stare at the chillies as though they were going to leap out of the pan and claw her eyes out.

"Mom?" I asked once I'd finished, seeing as she'd already cleaned her plate.

"Yeah… Lu?" she seemed as surprised as I did at calling her mom but I didn't correct myself.

"Just wanted to let you know that I'm going to Seattle for the day a week on Saturday, if that's okay?"

"Why?"

"I need some books and I really didn't want to go to this dance at school." I answered her, shrugging.

"And you're going by yourself?"

"Yeah."

"Seattle is a big city. You could get lost." She fretted, placing her empty dish on top of mine.

"Mom, Phoenix is a lot bigger than Seattle. Don't worry about it."

"Want me to tag along?"

"I'm good, thanks." I didn't want to hurt her feelings but I also didn't want her keeping an eye on me like I was a toddler.

"Okay."

"Thanks."

"Are you going to need money?" she asked, her hand already reaching for her purse, but I stopped her quickly.

"Don't worry, I've got plenty."

That was the good thing about living back at home; as long as dinner was ready on time and the house was kept clean, they didn't give a shit where I disappeared off to.

During the week, I worked night at a small dive bar a few blocks from the house serving drinks. It was steady work and paid okay so I came to my mom's with a little under three thousand dollars seeing as I hardly spent anything.

The next morning when I got to school, I parked as far away as possible from the Volvo; I didn't want to tempt myself into trashing it.

Climbing off the bike, I fumbled around with my keys until they fell into a puddle by my feet.

Quickly tying my hair into a pony tail, I reached down to grab them but a white hand flashed out of no where and got them before I could.

"How do you do that?" I asked, already knowing who it was.

"Do what?" Edward asked as I straightened myself up, my keys jingling a few inches from my face.

"Appear out of thin air whenever I plan on keying your car?" I grinned, clasping my hand around my keys as he dropped them into my open palm.

"Luna, is it my fault that you are exceptionally unobservant?" his voice was quiet as usual – smooth as velvet.

"Out of curiosity, why the traffic jam last night? I thought you were supposed to be ignoring my existence, not forcing me to risk my bike to get home."

"That was for Tyler's sake. I had to give him his chance." He snickered, causing me to grin widely at him though it seemed to throw him off a bit when I did.

"Aw, thanks Eddy, just what I always wanted." I started, slipping my keys into my pocket. "The chance to tell Tyler to fuck off."

"You're welcome. And, for the record, I'm not pretending that you don't exist."

"Then what're you trying to do? Irritate me to death since Tyler's van didn't do a good enough job?"

Anger flashed in his tawny eyes as his lips pressed into a hard line; all signs of humour on his face disappeared within a second.

"Luna, you are utterly absurd."

"And you're still an arsehole." I told him with a smile. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

I turned on my heel and began to walk to the school.

"Wait!" he called as I continued to walk but he easily caught up to me. "I'm sorry, that was rude. I'm not saying it isn't true but it was rude to say it anyway."

"Why won't you leave me alone?"

"I wanted to ask you something, but you side-tracked me." He chuckled, seeming to have rediscovered his sense of humour.

 _Does someone have a touch of bipolar?_

"Okay, what did you want to ask?"

"I was wondering if, a week from Saturday – you know, the day of the spring dance-"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I interrupted, staring up at him. "You're giving me the chance to tell you take a running jump too?"

"Will you please allow me to finish?"

I nodded and mimed zipping my mouth up before gesturing for him to continue.

"I heard you say that you were going to Seattle that day, and I was wandering if you wanted a ride."

Okay, I wasn't expecting that.

"Sorry?"

"Do you want a ride to Seattle?"

"Who with?"

"Myself, obviously." He chuckled, emphasising every word as though I wasn't all together there upstairs.

"Why?"

"Well, I was planning to go there in the next few weeks and, to be honest, I'm not sure your bike can make it."

"Pandora works just fine, thank you." I started to walk away again.

"But can it get there on one tank of gas?"

"Now that, I'm not sure on." I confessed, shrugging. "but I don't see why that's any of your concern."

"The waiting of finte resources should be everyone's concern."

"Edward," I sighed, whipping around to face him again. "What's all this shit about? Thought you said you didn't want to be friends."

"I said it would be better if we weren't friends, not that I didn't want to be."

"Well, that's cleared up." I muttered sarcastically, rolling my eyes at him, as the rain began to pick up.

"It would be more… prudent for you not to be my friend." He explained. "But I'm tired of trying to stay away from you, Luna."

His eyes were glowing intensely as the said the last sentence, his voice smouldering.

For a second, I forgot how to breathe.

"Will you go with me to Seattle?" he asked again.

"I suppose." I murmured, offering him a small smile that he returned for the briefest of seconds.

"You know, you really should stay away from me… I'll see you in class."

With that said, he turned abruptly and walked back the way that we'd came, leaving me to run to my first lesson of the day.

* * *

 _ **So, what did you all think?**_


	6. Chapter Five: Blood Type

_**Hey Guys!**_

 _ **Sorry about the delay... The re-write for my original novel took a hell of a lot longer than I originally expected but it's done now so I shouldn't have any more huge delays :)**_

 _ ** _ **Thank you to everyone who messaged me and dropped reviews for the story; I'm glad you're liking it.**_**_

 _ ** _ **So, without further a do...**_**_

* * *

 **Chapter Five – Blood Type**

* * *

When I finally made it to English – looking like a drowned rat – class had already begun.

"Thank you for joining us, Miss Goodwin." Mr Mason said in a disparaging tone.

"Don't mention it." I responded cheekily, throwing an exaggerating wink at him as I walked over to my seat, chuckling at the sound of his unimpressed sigh.

It wasn't until class had ended that I realised Mike wasn't sat in his usual seat – bad, I know, seeing as he sits beside me – but both him and Eric met me at the door so I figured they'd forgiven me for my 'fuck you and go kill yourself' comments. He seemed a lot more like himself as we walked, gaining enthusiasm with every step. The rain was due to take a break at the weekend meaning that his beach trip would be able to go ahead.

I tried to sound interested, wanting to at least have a go after telling him to jump off a cliff, but it was hard seeing as I didn't really want to go in the first place.

The rest of the morning passed by in a blur after that.

Jessica babbled on and on about her dance plans – Lauren and Angela had asked the other boys so they were all going together – while I wandered beside her, nodding whenever I noticed a lull in conversation.

When we sat down, I couldn't stop my eyes drifting over to the Cullen table, only to see that Edward wasn't sat with the rest of his family.

 _Woohoo! Desk to myself in biology!_

"Edward Cullen is staring at you again." Jess said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "Wonder why he's sitting alone today."

I glanced up and followed her eyeline to see Edward with his crooked smile, staring at me from an empty table across the cafeteria from where he usually sat.

Once he'd caught my eye, he raised his hand and motioned for me to join him with his index finger.

Rolling my eyes, I flipped him the bird though he only responded with a wink.

"Does he mean you?" She asked with insulting astonishment in her voice.

"I don't know, why don't you ask him?"

I took great pleasure in watching her point to herself, only for him to shake his head and point at me.

"Huh, guess it was me."

"Aren't you going to go over?"

I glanced his way again, sighing at the look on his face.

"I supposed so." I muttered, picking up my lunch, before walking over to his table. "Well, Mr Cullen, fancy meeting you here."

"Why don't you sit with me today?" he asked, smiling, as he kicked out the seat opposite him.

"This is different." I murmured as I plopped myself down and placed my salad on the table.

"Well," he paused for a second, the rest of the words following in a rush. "I decided that, as long as I was going to hell, I might as well do it thoroughly."

"Here's to going to hell in style." I announced, holding my can of soda up in toast.

"You know, I think your friends are angry with me for stealing you."

 _Thought I could feel something burning into my back._

"Don't worry about them." I told him, throwing a glance over my shoulder. "It's only because half of that table want to screw you and the other half don't want to admit that they may be experiencing homosexual inclinations."

"I may not give you back." He said with a wicked glint in his eyes. "You don't look worried."

"Why should I be?" I asked, taking a sip of my soda. "What brought all this on?"

"I told you – I got tired of trying to stay away from you. So, I'm giving up." He was still smiling, but his ochre eyes were serious.

"Giving up?"

"Yes – giving up trying to be good. I'm just going to do what I want now, and let the chips fall where they may." His smile faded as he explained, a hard edge creeping into his voice.

"You've lost me a bit there, Eddy."

"I always say too much when I'm talking to you – that's one of the problems."

"If it's any consolation, I don't understand some of it and don't really pay attention to the rest."

"I'm counting on that."

"So," I grinned across at him as I ran a hand through my hair. "Does this make us BFFs now?"

"Friends…" he murmured, dubious.

"No, BFFs." I corrected, my grin growing bigger as he began to smile. "We could make each other bracelets and share secrets and have pillow fights… the whole nine."

"Well, we can try, I suppose. But I'm warning you now that I'm not a good friend for you." I could sense that, behind his smile, the warning was a very real one.

I just couldn't bring myself to care.

"You know, you say that a lot."

"Yes, because you're not listening to me. I'm still waiting for you to believe it. If you're smart, you'll avoid me."

"Good job I'm not smart then, ain't it?" I asked, my smile faltering slightly, as my mind tried to wander back to Phoenix.

 _What's done, is done. Nothing can change it. No point dwelling._

I forced the memories away, choosing to distract myself instead.

"What are you thinking?" he asked, peering over at me curiously.

"I'm…" I began, unsure of how to answer. "trying to figure you out."

"Are you having any luck with that?" he asked in an offhand tone.

"Not too much." I shrugged, taking another sip of my soda.

He chuckled. "What are your theories?"

 _Well, I've managed to narrow it down to either Bruce Wayne or Peter Parker perhaps?_

"Well, won't you tell me?" he pressed, tilting his head to the side with a shockingly tempting smile.

 _Sometimes, you look just like…._

I pushed the memories back again, not wanting to dwell on them.

"Not going to happen Eddy." I told him, shaking my head.

"That's really frustrating, you know." He complained.

"Really? I can't imagine why it'd be frustrating. Someone refusing to tell you what they're thinking while making cryptic remarks designed to make you curious. Why ever would that be frustrating?" I asked sarcastically, watching him grimace.

"I-"

"Or even better, say that the person did a lot of weird things like saving your life then treating you like a leper, all while refusing to explain any of it… not frustrating at all."

"You've got a bit of a temper, don't you?"

 _You have no idea…_

"I've got a thing about hypocrisy."

We stared at each other for a few minutes, unsmiling, until his gaze flickered over my shoulder and he began to snicker.

"What?"

"Your boyfriend seems to think I'm being unpleasant. He's debating whether or not to come break up our fight."

"What fight? This is just a discussion." I told him, shaking my head. "and I don't have a boyfriend Mr. Smarty-pants so you're wrong."

"I'm not. I told you, most people are easy to read."

"Except me, of course." I joked, winking at him, though I was shocked when his mood suddenly shifted and his eyes turned brooding.

"Yes, except you… I wonder why that is."

"Don't know." I mumbled, drinking my soda.

"Aren't you hungry?"

"Not particularly… you?"

"No, I'm not hungry." He answered, his expression shifting slightly like he was enjoying some private joke.

"Can you do me a favour?"

"That depends on what you want."

"You know next time you ignore me for my own good?" I asked, watching him nod. "Could you give me a heads up so I don't end up keying your car? I mean, the penis on the back really brightens it up…" I trailed off, grinning.

"That sounds fair." He was pressing his lips together to keep from laughing when I looked up.

"Cool. Thanks."

"Then can I have one answer in return?" he demanded.

"One."

"Tell me one theory."

"I think you were bitten by a radioactive spider." I told him confidently.

"That's not very creative." He scoffed.

"Apologies for not spending every minute of the day thinking about it." I muttered back.

"You're not even close, by the way."

"What, no spiders?" he shook his head, biting his bottom lip to stifle his laughter. "No radioactivity."

"None."

"Damn it."

"Kyrptonite doesn't bother me either." He chuckled.

"Ah well, I'm sure I'll figure something out eventually."

"I wish you wouldn't try." He was serious again.

"Why?"

"What if I'm not a superhero? What if I'm the bad guy?" he smiled playfully as he spoke but his eyes were impenetrable.

"These words that people throw around – humans, monsters, heroes, villains – are all just a matter of semantics." I told him, quoting a book that I'd read on the plane coming here. "Someone could call themselves a hero and still walk around killing dozens. Someone else could be labelled a villain for trying to stop them. Plenty of humans are monstrous, and plenty of monsters know how to play at being human."

 _I've had plenty of experience with monsters…_

"You're wrong." His voice was almost inaudible.

I just stared at him, not understanding why he was so adamant on getting me to be… afraid of him.

The silence between us lasted until I noticed that the cafeteria was almost empty.

"Well, we're going to be late." I told him, jumping up to my feet.

"I'm not going to class today."

"Any particular reason?" I asked, grabbing my backpack from the floor.

"It's healthy to ditch class now and then." He smiled up at me but something in his eyes were still troubled.

"Well, I better get off anyway… First few months in a new school… got to look like I actually give a shit before I start bunking."

"I'll see you later then." He called after me as I turned and walked out of the cafeteria.

I dawdled over to Biology but luckily Mr Banner hadn't arrived when I got there so I took my seat and acted like I'd been there the entire time while Mike and Angela stared at me.

Mike looked resentful; Angela looked stunned.

They both looked slightly awed.

It was then, when I was unpacking my things onto my desk, that I caught my wrist on the corner of the table. I hissed softly in pain, grimacing at the strange but familiar sensation of blood trickling down my arm beneath my sleeve.

Mr Banner came into the room a few minutes later, calling the class to order while juggling a couple of cardboard boxes in his arms. He dumped them on Mike's table, telling him to start passing them around.

"Okay, guys, I want you all to take one piece from the box," he said, producing a pair of rubber gloves from the pocket of his lab jacket before pulling them on. "The first should be an indicator card," he went on, grabbing a white card with four squares marked on it and displayed it to the class. "The second if a four-pronged applicator-" he held up something else that looks like a toothless hair pick. "- and the third is a sterile micro-lanet." He held up a small piece of blue plastic and split it open.

 _Well, blood isn't going to be an issue now…_

I moved my wrist slightly, trying to pull it away from the jacket so it didn't stain the lining.

"I'll be coming around with a dropper of water to prepare your cards so please don't start until I get to you." He started at Mike's table, carefully putting a drop of water in each of the four squares. "Then I want you to carefully prick your finger with the lancet…" he grabbed his finger and jabbed the barb into the tip of his middle finger causing him to yelp like a little girl.

I struggled to concentrate on anything other than the comforting heat steadily creeping up my arm.

 _The bleeding should've stopped by now…_

"Put a small amount of blood on each of the prongs," he demonstrated, squeezing Mike's finger until the blood flowed.

"And then apply it to the card." He finished, holding up the card so we could all see. "The Red Cross is having a blood drive in Port Angeles next weekend, so I thought that you should all know your blood types. Those of you who aren't eighteen yet will need a parent's permission – I have slips on my desk."

He continued through the room with his water drops while I placed my head against the cool table top; my head seemed to be spinning.

"Luna, are you alright?" Mr Banner asked. His voice was far too close to my head and it sounded… alarmed?

"Already know my blood type." I muttered, a small shiver moving down my spine as the warmth in my arm faded into numbness.

"Are you feeling faint?"

"Don't know til I lift my head… just feeling a little off."

"Can someone take Luna to the nurse please?" he called out.

I didn't have to look up to know who moved to my side.

"Can you walk?"

"Have for the past sixteen and a half years." I grumbled sarcastically as Mike moved to put his arm around my waist. "Don't see why today should be any different."

With that said, I pushed myself up and let the idiot walk me outside until I had no choice but to sit down on the pavement.

"Wow, you're really pale Luna." He said nervously, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Don't worry," I muttered, slipping a finger under my sleeve to gently probe the fresh wound from the night before. When I pulled away, my fingertip was coated with blood. "It's nothing."

"Is that?"

"Don't worry." I repeated, feeling slightly dizzier than before.

Not knowing what else to do, I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on my hand, listening to what was going on around me.

"Luna?" a different voice called from the distance.

 _Shit…_

"What's wrong- is she hurt?" He asked, almost sounding upset, as his footfalls became faster and faster.

"I think she's fainted. I don't know what happened. She didn't even stick her finger."

"Luna." Edward's voice was right beside me, relieved now. "Can you hear me?"

"I'm not deaf." I groaned, blindly reaching out to shove him away. "Go away."

He just chuckled in response.

"I was taking her to the nurse," Mike explained, his tone defensive. "But then she just sat down all of a sudden."

"I'll take her." He offered; I could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke. "You can go back to class."

"No." Mike protested. "I'm supposed to do it."

Suddenly, the pavement beneath me disappeared; I knew which one had hold of me without having to open my eyes.

The expensive college gave it away.

"If you don't put me down Cullen, I'm going to seriously hurt you." I muttered in his ear but he just continued his way, carrying me as though I weighed a couple of pounds instead of a couple of hundred.

"Hey!" Mike called from behind us, prompting me to open my eyes.

Edward ignored him. "You look awful," he told me, the grin fading from his face as Mike walked off in a huff.

"Put me back down." I moaned, beginning to feel a little nauseous from the way I swayed in his arms.

"So," he began, his jaw tense as he gritted his teeth. "You faint at the sight of blood?"

I didn't answer, choosing instead to take deep breaths to stop myself from throwing up all over him.

 _Knew I went a little too deep… I need to wrap it up.._

II didn't know how he managed to open the door while holding me but it wasn't long before I found myself in the office.

"Oh my!" the receptionist gasped.

"She fainted in biology." Edward explained.

"Think you'll find that I didn't." I groaned as he strode up past the front counter and towards the nurse's office. Ms. Cope – the redheaded receptionist – scurried ahead of him to open the door.

The nurse glanced up from her novel, astonished, as Edward swung me into the room and placed me gently down on the cot.

He moved to stand against the wall as far away from me as possible.

"She's just a little faint," he assured the startled old woman. "They're blood typing in biology."

The nurse nodded sagely. "There's always one… Just lie down for a minute honey, it'll pass."

"I'm not an idiot." I grumbled, moving my wrist to feel it pull from the inside of my jacket. It felt as though the blood had dried and clotted, stopping the bleeding, but I couldn't tell how bad it'd been until I was alone.

"Does this happen a lot?"

"More than you'll ever know." I answered.

Edward coughed for a moment, his nose wrinkling slightly in disgust.

"You can go back to class now," she told him, much to my delight.

"I'm supposed to say with her." He said this with such assured authority that – even though she pursed her lips – the nurse didn't argue any further.

 _Wimp… put your foot down woman! Tell him to get out! This is your sick bay, not his!_

"I'll go get some ice for your forehead, dear." She said to me before bustling out of the room.

"Gee, thanks." I muttered sarcastically, rolling my eyes at her. "Looks like you were right."

"I usually am – but about what in particular this time?"

"I should've ditched when I had the chance."

 _Then I wouldn't have caught my wrist on the fucking table and done this… but at least it's stopped bleeding now._

"You scared me for a minute there," he admitted after a brief pause. His tone made it sound like he was confessing some humiliating weakness. "I thought Newton was dragging your dead body off to bury it in the woods."

"Funny." I chuckled, beginning to feel a little more normal. Well, as normal as I could manage. "Many have tried and none have succeeded yet…"

 _Not even me…_

"Honestly – I've seen corpses with better colour. I was concerned that I might have to avenge your murder."

"Awww, poor Mike. I bet he's mad at your for taking his job." I pulled myself up to my feet and moved over to the small sink in the corner so I could grab some paper towels.

"He absolutely loathes me," Edward said with a hint of cheer to his voice.

I could feel his eyes burning into my back as I shoved the handful of towels up my sleeve quickly.

"Glad that there's not just me." I joked. "Anyway, how did you see me? Thought you were ditching today." I asked as I returned to my place, ignoring the look he threw at me.

"I was in my car, listening to a CD." Such a normal response for such a strange guy – it surprised me.

The door opened and closed; a second later, the nurse came scurrying in with a cold compress in her hand.

"Here you go, dear." She laid it across my forehead. "You're looking a lot better." She added.

As I'm not one to miss an opportunity, I gave her a wide grin.

"Nothing like a good screw session to get the colour back in your cheeks." I told her, throwing a wink in her direction. "Thanks for that babe."

The look on her face was hilarious; the look on Edward's? it was priceless.

"We've got another one." Ms. Cope called as she stuck her head through the door, looking between the now blushing nurse and a lightly… annoyed?... looking Cullen.

Smiling, I hopped down from the cot so it was free for the next invalid, and handed her the compress back.

"Here you go, I don't need it anymore."

Just then, Mike staggered through the door being supposed by a sallow-looking guy from our biology class.

Both me and Edward pressed our backs against the wall to give them more room to manoeuvre.

"Oh no." he muttered, giving me a sideways glance. "Go out to the office, Luna."

I looked up at him for a moment, bewildered, but darted out of the infirmary none the less.

"You actually listened to me." He seemed stunned.

"I smelled the blood." I told him, shrugging.

"People can't smell blood." He contradicted.

 _Well, when you've been smelling it for the past few years, you know how to pick it out… Know it wasn't mine… smelled weird_

"I can." I nodded. "Sorta of a salty, rusty, coppery smell… his doesn't smell right."

He was staring at me with an unfathomable expression.

"What?"

"It's nothing."

Mike came through the door then, glancing from me to Edward. The look he shot my biology neighbour confirmed what he'd said earlier about the guy hating him.

Edward just started back, his eyes glum.

"You look better."

I opened my mouth, about to say the same thing I told the nurse, but I resisted the urge.

"Thanks."

"Are you going back to class?"

"Nope… going to ditch the rest… What's the point of going back? Can't be that much longer left."

"Yeah, I guess… so, you going this weekend? To the beach?"

While he spoke, he flashed another glare towards Edward, who was standing up against the cluttered counter, motionless as a sculpture, staring off into space.

I tried to sound enthusiastic. "Said I was in, didn't I?"

"We're meeting at my dad's store, at ten." His eyes flickered to Edward again, wondering if he was giving out too much information.

 _Well, that definitely isn't an open invitation… wonder if I can get him to come, just to piss him off..._

"Don't worry… I'll make sure I'm there."

"I'll see you in gym then," he said, moving uncertainly towards the door.

"Yeah, see you." I replied.

He looked at me once more, his round face pouting, and then exited through the door, his shoulders slumped.

"Good riddance." I sighed once he'd left, shaking my head. "Then again, I'm gonna see him in gym."

"I can take care of that." Strange, I hadn't noticed Edward move next to me. "Go sit down and look pale."

"Wait, paler than I already am? Happen to have any white emulsion laying around?"

He rolled his eyes before going back into the office.

Not knowing what else to do, I took a seat and closed my eyes.

That was when I heard him speak softly to the receptionist behind the counter.

"Ms. Cope?"

"Yes?"

"Luna has gym next lesson, and I don't think she feels well enough. Actually, I was thinking that I should take her home now. Do you think that you could excuse her from her class?" His voice was just like melted honey… I found myself glad that I wasn't looking at him.

"Do you need to be excused too, Edward?" Ms. Cope fluttered. I could practically hear the blood rushing up to her cheeks.

"No, I have Mrs. Goff. She won't mind."

 _Course she won't, you charmer you…_

"Okay, it's all taken care of. You feel better, Luna." She called over to me. I nodded slowly – trying to look weak – as I opened my eyes.

"Can you walk, or do you want me to carry you again?" With his back to the receptionist, his expression became one of pure sarcasm.

Knowing that the woman would still be listening, I put on my most convincing sick voice.

"You know what Eddy? I still feel icky." I murmured softly, grinning widely at him when Ms. Cope wasn't looking. "Could you carry me? Please?"

He paused for a moment, his eyes narrowing, but he ultimately scooped me up and walked outside, dropping me the minute we were out of view.

"Aww thanks… it's almost worth getting sick to miss gym with those lot."

"Anytime." He was staring straight forward, squinting into the rain.

"So, how'd you like coming this Saturday?" I asked, sort of hoping that he'd come along. "I'm desperate to see Mike's head to explode and I reckon that'd do just the job."

"Where are you all going, exactly?" he was still looking ahead, expressionless.

"La Push… first beach?" I studied his face for a second, trying to read it.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

He glanced down at me from the corner of his eye, smiling wryly. "I really don't think I was invited."

"Didn't you just hear me? I'm inviting you because I wanna see his head go pop."

"Let's you and I not push poor Mike any further this week. We don't want him to snap." His eyes danced as he spoke; he was enjoying the idea, nearly as much as I was.

"Why'd you have to ruin my fun?" I pouted, crossing my arms over my chest. "Only want to watch him have a meltdown… s'not like I'm asking for the moon, is it?"

We were near the parking lot now. I veered left, towards my bike, when something caught my jacket and yanked me backwards.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked, outraged. He was gripping a fistful of my jacket in one hand.

"Going home?" I tried, confused to his sudden show of emotion.

"Didn't you hear me promise to take you home safely? Do you think I'm going to let you drive in your condition?" his voice was still indignant.

"Oh shit, I'm pregnant?" Okay, he didn't seem amused by that. "Look, don't worry, I'm fine… I mean, what about Pandora? I can't leave her here."

"I'll have Alice drop it off after school." He was towing me towards his car, pulling me by my jacket, much to my annoyance.

"Will you just let me go, you pushy prick?"

"It's open." Was his response as he released me and climbed in the driver's side.

"I can drive myself home." I protested, crossing my arms over my chest as the rain began to pick up, soaking me through to the bone; I didn't care.

I was going to win the argument.

He lowered the automatic windows and leaned across the seat. "Get in the car, Luna."

I didn't bother answering.

 _Could just run to my bike? Surely, he wouldn't be able to catch up to me._

"I'd only drag you back." He threatened, almost like he'd read my mind.

Reluctantly, I got into the car.

"This is completely unnecessary."

He didn't answer. He fiddled with the controls, turning the heater up and the music down. As he pulled out of the parking lot, I was preparing to give him the silent treatment — my face in full pout mode — but then I recognized the music playing, and my curiosity got the better of my intentions.

"Is that Clair de Lune?"

"You know Debussy?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Always wanted a piano but didn't have anywhere to put one so I learned how to play it on the guitar." I chucked, shaking my head. "This is one of my favourites."

"It's one of mine too." He stared out through the rain, seemingly lost in thought.

I listened to the music, relaxing against the pale silver leather of the seat, and tried not to laugh at the way my fingers twitched automatically, moving down my knee as though I was playing. The rain outside blurred everything into grey and green smudges. I began to realise we were driving pretty fast; the car moved so steadily that I hardly noticed the speed, just the town flashing by.

"What's your mother like?" he asked me suddenly. "It is your mother you live with, right?"

I glanced over to see him studying my face with curious eyes.

"Yeah… I guess I look like her… minus the red hair… and she's far prettier." I answered. He raised his eyebrows. "Didn't get much else from her. She's pretty scatter brained. It's kinda lucky that I learned to be self-sufficient really, or else we'd be living on takeout food."

"How old are you, Luna?" His voice sounded frustrated for some reason but I couldn't even begin to imagine why; we'd hardly spoken the entire trip.

He stopped the car and that was when I realised that we were sitting outside of Elizabeth's house already.

"I'm nearly eighteen." I responded, slightly confused.

"You don't seem seventeen." His tone was almost reproachful; it made me laugh.

"What?"

"Doesn't matter Eddy." I murmured, shaking my head at him.

"So why did your mother move here?"

I was slightly surprised he remembered so much that we spoke about; it was once and almost two months ago, but I answered as best I could.

"Elizabeth is a young spirit… My father was controlling to the point of suffocating… She moved here and met a nice guy."

"Why didn't she take you with her?"

"I don't know… Maybe she thought he could take better care of me." I shrugged, trying not to grimace.

 _Yeah, right…_

"Do you approve of her choice?"

"Does it matter?" I snapped, narrowing my eyes at him. "It was eleven years ago… and it made her happy."

"That's very generous… I wonder," he mused.

"What?"

"Would she extend the same courtesy to you, do you think? If you wanted to leave with someone?" he was suddenly intent, his eyes searching mine.

 _She let me move here, didn't she?_

"Probably." I nodded. "As long as she knew where I was and who I was with."

"So nowhere scary, then?"

I grinned in response. "What do you mean by scary? Living on the top of some dive bar with a guy covered in tattoos?"

"That's one definition, I suppose."

"What's your definition?"

He ignored my question and asked me another. "What if I were to take you somewhere new and dark? Somewhere it was just the two of us, where we'd be away from the outside world." He raised an eyebrow with a trace of a smile on his lips. "Do you think I could be that scary man, covered in tattoos?"

 _Not covered in tattoos… but I reckon you could be…_

"I think you could be, if you really wanted to." I told him, chuckling. "but definitely not covered in tattoos."

"Are you frightened of me now?" the smile vanished and his face was suddenly serious but it didn't bother me.

"No." I answered confidently, watching his smile return. "So, are you going to tell me something about your family? Seeing as you know about mine… it's gotta be more interesting."

He was instantly cautious. "What do you want to know?"

"Whatever you want to tell me. Jessica muttered on about the Cullens adopting you?"

"Yes."

"So, and I don't want to overstep a line here, something must've happened to your parents?"

"They died many years ago." He told me in a very matter-of-fact way.

"I'm sorry." I murmured.

Without thinking, I leaned forward and placed my hand on his arm, shocking both of us.

"I don't really remember them that clearly. Carlisle and Esme have been my parents for a long time now."

"And you love them." Admittedly, it wasn't a question; his affection for them was obvious by the way he spoke about them.

 _I wish I could speak about mine like that…_

"Yes." He nodded, smiling. "I couldn't imagine two better people."

"You're a lucky bastard."

"I know I am."

"And your brother and sister?" I continued, quite interested.

"My brother and sister, and Jasper and Rosalie for that matter, are going to be quite upset if they have to stand in the rain waiting for me." He murmured, glancing down at the clock on his dashboard.

"Sorry, don't be letting me keep you." I smiled, moving to open the door, but he stopped me with a hand on my arm.

"and you probably want your bike back before Deputy Chief Goodwin gets home, so you don't have to tell her about the biology incident." He grinned.

"She probably knows already. There's no such thing as secrets in Forks." I sighed, narrowing my eyes playfully at him as he laughed.

"Have fun at the beach… good weather for sunbathing." He glanced out at the sheet of rain.

"Gee thanks. Guess you're skipping school tomorrow?"

"Yes. Emmett and I are starting the weekend early."

"Doing anything interesting?" I asked, looking down at his hand that was still holding my arm so I couldn't move.

"We're going to be hiking in the Goat Rocks Wilderness, just south of Rainer."

"Cool. Have fun."

A smile played around the edges of the lips as I said that.

"Will you do something for me this weekend?" he turned to look me straight in the face.

For a moment, I was lost in the endless depths of his honey-coloured eyes.

"Don't be offended, but you seem to be one of those people who just attract accidents like a magnet. So… try not to fall into the ocean or get run over or anything, all right?" he asked, smiling crookedly.

"I'll have you know," I began, moving my arm away from his hold. "I'm not that accident prone… just unlucky."

Climbing out of the car, I leaned over so I could still see him, despite getting soaked from the rain.

"But I'll try… if you promise to try and get eaten by bears."

"I'll see what I can do." he chuckled, throwing a wink at me, as I slammed the door shut.

He was still smiling as he drove away.

* * *

 _ **Thank you for reading; I hope you liked it!**_

 _ **So, to say thank you for sticking around for this to be put up, I've included a piece from my first chapter of Waning. It's an original vampire novel including my little Luna as her sassy, bi-sexual self :)**_

* * *

 _At six 'o' clock in the morning, the street was quiet._

 _A middle-aged man – his salt and pepper hair soaked with sweat – jogged along the side of the road with his labrador, their breath misty in the crisp October morning air._

 _She frowned at the sight._

 _If it had been another normal day, Candy would've only just woken her with a cup of a coffee and a kiss, before leaving the house for a run, so she could get ready for work. She found that, when her wife was present, she struggled to pull herself away from their bed and begin her morning routine._

 _Luna continued to sit outside of the house in her beaten-up Volvo, her fingers absentmindedly drumming on the steering wheel, as she stared up at the crooked '13' hanging in the centre of the front door. She had been sat out there for so long that the coffee she'd bought at the hospital had gone cold and the heater had finally given up trying, but the young woman still couldn't gather enough strength to leave the car._

 _It wasn't until the windscreen had completely frozen over – and the streetlights lining the road had begun to flicker off – that she could force herself to move though it was more out of necessity than choice._

* * *

 _ **Thanks again guys! Until next time!**_


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